Draco desperately wanted to tell his godfather everything that was running through his mind at the moment, but the older witch sitting across from him stopped him in his tracks. He couldn't reveal anything to her just yet, so all Draco could do was sit there and listen as Hermione asked questions and the professors provided answers while plans were forming in his head.
He knew he was going to fail his task. Time was nearly up and he was nowhere near close to ready. He never would be ready for what Voldemort wanted him to do. Even if his godfather promised to do what he, himself, couldn't, he knew that he would be seen as a failure in Voldemort's eyes. Once the deadline was passed, he knew the Dark Lord would punish him. He just hoped and prayed that having his father home now would protect his mother.
But his mother wasn't the person he loved the most anymore.
Slowly, he turned his head to watch Hermione. He knew that he had to protect the witch he had grown to love. He knew that this is what would push him to tell the Order everything he knew so he could get rid of Voldemort and protect her. He just hoped that she wouldn't hate him for what he still had to reveal to her.
Draco knew that if his father were to find out that he not only became friends with Hermione, but was in a committed relationship with her, he would throw a fit and demand that Voldemort use her. Chills ran through his body as he thought of all the possible scenarios his father would no doubt create. His reoccurring nightmare would surely become reality. He had to stop them all from happening.
"What could he do? If he's escaped Azkaban only last night, he's a bloody fugitive. The Ministry isn't corrupt enough yet, it's not like he can come in here and curse me for being with Draco." Hermione spoke and fought the nausea that her anxiety caused. "And how could he even find out about us? There's no sleazy journalists who'd spy on us and report it. It's not like we're out in public. We're only in school."
"Hogsmeade." Draco muttered under his breath so only Hermione could hear and she froze.
She squeezed her eyes shut and released a broken sigh as she realized that they had gone out in public together several times in the last six months. They definitely let themselves slip up and would snog or grope each other out in alleyways. Anyone could have seen them and could be planning to report it to Lucius as soon as they saw him.
Professor McGonagall could sense the distress her young students were feeling and frowned deeply. "I can assure you that Lucius can't come into the school, don't worry about that."
Those words made Draco's stomach spasm painfully and he fought hard to keep his breathing under control. She was wrong. She had no idea how wrong she was. He knew in his gut that Lucius would get into the school with the others.
Having not heard Draco's reminder to Hermione, Snape addressed Hermione's second question. "He could very easily find out about the friendship you two have developed. It's no secret in school, children talk, we have no idea who could be listening." Snape spoke with a frown of his own as he watched Draco suffer in silence. "Your friends, Draco, can easily be angry and go tell the truth. Or even your friends, Miss Granger.""
"Pansy, Blaise, and Theo would never." Draco shook his head. "They truly love Hermione and would never betray either of us that way."
Hermione nodded in agreement, "I trust Draco's friends - my friends - completely. And Harry and Ron may hate me but they would never do that to me."
McGonagall pursed her lips and was about to say the other Slytherins and Gryffindors could very well reveal their friendship when someone knocked on her door.
She called for the person to come in and it was a first year informing the Deputy Headmistress that Dumbledore needed her assistance in the Great Hall.
"Excuse me, I'll be back shortly." McGonagall sighed and pocketed her wand that was resting on her desk. As she stood to walk out of the room, Draco was grateful that he'd be left alone with his godfather and girlfriend.
They all waited until the door clicked shut behind them before they all moved. Snape let himself slouch and lean against the wall behind him, Hermione reached over to grasp Draco's hand, and Draco began speaking.
"Protect her. Help me protect Hermione, Severus, please. You know he'll get in. He will. And you know once he knows, he'll use her." Draco squeezed Hermione's hand back and fought the fear that was seizing his heart. "Take her, hide her, do whatever you need to do. Go get her parents, too. Hide them all. Please. I need her to be safe."
Hermione looked over at him in shock, "What? Hide me? Draco, that's ludicrous. I'm not hiding away!"
Snape crossed his arms and stared at the young couple, feeling a strong sense of deja vu. He and Lily could've so easily been like them, if he didn't go and screw it all up when they were just beginning. "Draco...Hiding her won't be an easy task."
"But it can be done." Draco nodded. "Please, help me protect her."
Hermione shook her head, "I appreciate the effort, Professor, but no. I won't be stowed away because of your father, Draco. Whatever we face, we face together."
"You don't understand what's coming. This isn't Weasley scoffing at us or Brown calling you a whore. This is my father!" Draco spoke heatedly. "He would tell Voldemort! He would order someone to torture you! Hell, he would tell my father to skin you alive and force me to watch if he knew!"
"Stop trying to scare me! I know what your father and his Lord is capable of! In case you forgot, I dueled your father, however briefly! And his friend Dolohov nearly killed me last year!" Hermione snapped back.
Draco scoffed and snatched his hand away to stand and pace, "Who do you think taught Dolohov those tricks?! My father!"
"I've dealt with plenty of Death Eaters befo-" Hermione was suddenly shouting.
Snape pursed his lips and tuned out the young couple's quarrel while thinking of ways to fix the mess in front of them.
He could easily hide Hermione away, but even he knew the young witch wouldn't allow that. To be hidden away while everyone else did the fighting was something Hermione Granger would despise. She was the type to be in the front, to do battle alongside her friends.
And Draco. As he watched the young couple, he could see that his godson truly loved the muggleborn witch. He was in a panic at the thought of Lucius being anywhere near her. He wanted to protect her, and Snape understood that perfectly. From experience, Snape knew how hard it was to love a muggleborn witch, and it was especially harder to cope with losing them.
Hermione and Lily were so similar, he noted.
Not only were they muggleborns, Gryffindor muggleborns. They were both equally gifted with their magic and incredibly brave when battling Death Eaters. And the one thing that was most disconcerting was their incredible stubbornness when it came to their safety. He recalled being in Order meetings for the first time and overhearing Remus Lupin complain to Alice Longbottom that Lily wanted to come out of hiding, that she hated being left out.
Hermione sounded so similar just now as she told Draco she wouldn't hide away.
Snape would rather die himself than allow his godson to feel the familiar pain he dealt with every day.
He let himself tune back into the fight in front of him as a solid plan was forming in his head.
"I'm not hiding away!" Hermione screamed. "I'm not going to let you bloody hide me away! That's not who I am! And if you think that, then you don't know me very well, Draco!"
Draco dragged his hands through his blond hair in agitation and shook his head. "I know you're not that type of person! I'm asking you to be! He will kill you, Hermione! If he fucking finds out that we are together, he won't hesitate to kill you! Voldemort will kill you if he doesn't! Do you not understand that?!"
"Then let him at me, I can fire off a killing curse much faster than that old bastard! I won't fucking hesitate to get rid of him for the both of us!"
Yes, just like Lily.
Before Draco could respond, Snape raised his hand and cast a wandless silencing charm. "I have a plan. I'm going to need you both to be silent and let me explain. Do you understand?"
Both teenagers nodded. Hermione crossed her arms and buried herself further into the chair she was still sitting in while Draco paced back to his own seat.
"Draco, I think it would be best if...I don't hide her away." He watched as outrage filled Draco's entire being while Hermione smirked in triumph. "But, I do think you should go to the Order. We can tell them everything."
Hermione suddenly looked intrigued and turned to her boyfriend with questioning eyes. Draco immediately nodded, he had wanted to go to the Order anyway.
"Okay." Snape nodded. "We go to the Order. You'll be on our side, you realize?" He waited for his godson to nod before continuing. "After that, we'll come up with a solid plan. We don't have much time, though. Once McGonagall gets back, I'll tell her to ask for the Order members that are in the school now. That gives you enough time to explain everything to the ever curious witch at your side."
With another wave of his hand, the silencing charm lifted and Hermione immediately stood up.
Draco looked nervous as he stood and reached for Hermione's hand. "I'm allowed to tell her everything?"
"Everything. You'll be telling the Order as well."
Draco nodded slowly and looked at Hermione, "Please don't hate me."
Snape looked away to allow them a bit of privacy while Hermione's brow furrowed and she shook her head. "I could never hate you..."
Before anymore could be said, McGonagall walked back in and noted the change in the atmosphere. "What have I missed?"
"How soon can you gather the Order members that are in the castle?" Snape asked while Hermione rubbed her fingers against the back of Draco's hand.
McGonagall paled due to all the possibilities running through her head. "Some are busy doing detentions, at least an hour. Why? What's happened?"
"We have a new recruit who would like to speak to all of us."
Hermione couldn't help but feel some pride at the thought that Draco was officially changing sides, though she knew he wasn't truly bad for months now. Giving him a small smile, she walked backwards towards the door with him in tow. "We'll see you in an hour, Professors."
Draco was far too nervous to speak, but he did meet the elder witch's eyes and offered a weak grin before following his witch out the door.
"He realizes his family will be aware of his change in allegiance doesn't he? The fights it will cause. The horrible turmoil it will put him through." McGonagall waited to ask until her office door was closed once more. "Why would he change sides now?"
"Why did I?" Snape sighed as he took a seat."He's in love with a muggleborn."
Pacing in front of the Room of Requirement was the most nerve-wracking moments Draco could recall. This was it. He was finally telling her everything.
And he just knew that she was going to hate him. She was going to look at him with disgust and contempt. He was going to lose her.
As the doors slowly materialized and Hermione reached for them, he wanted to curse his father, he wanted to kill him. This whole mess was his doing. He was finally happy and because of him, he was going to lose it all over again.
"Will you stop worrying? Whatever you're about to tell me, it won't make me hate you. Trust me." Hermione spoke softly as she watched him pull at his sleeves and bite his inner cheek. She hated that he had such little trust in her, but she could understand to an extent.
As it is, she was nervous to tell him what she'd done.
"I do trust you." Draco looked down. "But I know you, you're not the type to...to forgive what I'm about to tell you."
Hermione felt an onslaught of nerves at all her imaginings before she shook her head to rid herself of them. Whatever he was going to confess, there was no way she would hate him for it. He was the first wizard she truly loved - Ron was just an idea, nothing more and certainly nothing less - and there was no way she would be letting him go anytime soon.
"We'll see. Come on." She reached over and pulled him into their room by his elbow. "Now tell me. Then I'll confess something to you, as well."
Raising a brow, Draco frowned. "What would you have to confess?"
"That I'm pregnant with Ron's child." She deadpanned, hoping to lighten the mood. She forced herself to look nervous and watched as his eyes widened in horror. His mouth opened but no noise came out and she laughed. "I'm kidding, Draco! Merlin, what I'm going to confess isn't that bad! Try and laugh!"
Draco deflated with relief and paced to the couch that suddenly materialized in the center of the room. "That wasn't funny."
"It was a little." Hermione grinned and joined him on the couch. "Now, tell me."
He looked over to her and felt like the air was thinning around him. Before he could begin to hyperventilate or chicken out of telling her, he bit his lip and looked down at his feet. "I won't blame you for hating me."
"Draco." She spoke sternly. "I wouldn't hate you. Now tell me!"
"You will. You're bloody close to him. I know you'd hate me if you knew that I had to kill him." He muttered and felt his palms begin to sweat. He had done it now. He told her what he had to do. Now to tell her who his target was.
She was silent as she processed what that meant.
Kill? He had said 'kill'...He had to kill someone.
Somehow, she wasn't too shocked by the act itself. She knew how brutal the dark side was and having a teenager murder someone didn't seem too far fetched. It was the simple fact that she knew he didn't want to do it that upset her so much. Her stomach rolled as she thought that over.
She knew him, she knew that he would never harm anyone in cold blood. Perhaps if he'd been provoked in a fight, then he'd hex back. But he wasn't capable of taking a life. And he was being forced. She felt sorrow for her boyfriend and a strong protective feeling overtook her. She had to help him. She had to save him from this.
But who would be the target? Logically, it had to be someone he could easily get into contact with. Someone that was hard for Voldemort himself to reach, but someone he wanted dead all the same. A horrible thought entered her mind as she thought of the only him that had a target on his back.
"Harry? You have to kill Harry?" Hermione whispered, afraid of the answer. "Is that why you got close to me? To get to Harry?" A part of her immediately felt like a fool. The boys had been right. Had it all been a lie? Did he even care about her? Or did he really fall for her while trying to kill her best friend?
Draco immediately turned to her with panicked eyes. "No! Hermione, no!" She was staring down at her lap and folded hands, fighting tears. "I got close to you out of my own free will. I wanted to get close to you because I liked you. It wasn't because of Voldemort. It wasn't an order." He reached and grasped her hands in between his and leaned forward so she'd meet his eyes. "Please, Darling, believe me. You and I aren't together because of him, but because of us."
She slowly raised her head to meet his gaze and blinked away the tears to clear her blurry vision. "...I believe you." She felt slightly relieved upon seeing the honesty in his eyes. "But it's Harry?"
He chuckled without humor and shook his head. He would've been so lucky. If it were Potter, he would've more than likely had no problem going and dueling Scarhead until he was down and bleeding out to death. If Potter had been his target, in the beginning he would've had it so easy. He would've gotten over the turmoil that taking a life would cause him, if it were Potter. His childhood grudge would've helped him a bit.
But then he would have never connected with Hermione. And that life was one he shuddered to imagine.
"No. It's not Potter."
Hermione frowned and asked with a shaking voice. "Then who?"
"Dumbledore."
The new Muggle Studies professor was seated at her desk in an unflattering slouch, flicking through a magazine that was charmed to look like a textbook while her last student finished his detention. Her young student was only a second year - he earned his detention by making fun of muggles in class - and he was grumbling to himself as he used a muggle duster to clean the dust from the room.
She felt this punishment fit perfectly for her and her class. She recalled many times her muggleborn father forced her to do her chores the Muggle way, rather than use a bit of underage magic under the radar, and told her to embrace her heritage. It taught her that magic was great but it wasn't everything. She hoped to pass that on to her students.
Just because it was detention, it didn't mean it had to be without a lesson. She hated her old professors when they'd force her to clean under desks or scrub the potion classroom floor, there was never a point to it, they just forced her to do it to be mean and hope it'd make her behave. It never did, it just gave her more ammunition to make their lives hell.
She hoped that Aaron would think twice before saying Muggles were beneath wizards. They were quite capable of amazing things, like wizards were, while also doing things that many wizards were incapable of. Muggles were capable of cleaning and cooking while many wizards would rather hire a House Elf to do for them.
It was the perfect lesson/detention in her eyes.
"Aaron, are you nearly done?" She asked after glancing at her clock and realizing the hour was nearly up.
Her student turned to look at her while still dusting a bookshelf halfheartedly. "Yes, Professor. I only have this shelf left."
She nodded and fought the bristle that always came when she heard her title. She doubted she would ever get used to that. "It's almost time for you to go."
That seemed to perk her young student up as he turned back to his work and dusted vigorously.
Just as the conjured clock began to ring, there was a knock on her door. She called to whoever it was to wait a moment before looking over to her student. "You're free to go, Aaron. Be sure to get here on time tomorrow. You're lucky I'm letting you leave now and not force you to do some overtime."
Aaron quickly paced to her desk and placed the muggle duster down and nodded. "Yes, Professor. I'm sorry, my friends were just hassling me for getting a detention and I had to stick around and tell them to shove it." Immediately, he blushed and looked around the room nervously. "I mean. I-I...Um...We started talking and I uhh...lost track of time?"
She couldn't help but laugh and shake her head. "I understand. Believe it or not, I've been there myself. I don't want to be too strict or mean so I'll let that slide. Just next time, tell them to shove it a bit quicker." She said with a wink of her eye. "Now off you go, have a small game of chess or Exploding Snap before it's time for bed."
Aaron gave her a grateful smile before charging to the door and opening it, he almost smashed into the person pacing on the other side of the door before bolting down the hall.
"I'm sorry, Sweetheart, I forgot you had detentions tonight." Remus Lupin said as he walked into the room and closed the door behind himself. "You all done?"
Tonks smiled at the sound of his voice and immediately stood to greet him. "It's alright, but you know out here, you're supposed to call me 'Professor'. I'm free for the rest of the night, what do you want to do?"
"Well, excuse me, Professor." He smirked as he walked over to her. When he was close enough, she reached out to grasp his hands and he stepped up so their bodies were pressed together. As she tiptoed, he leaned down and they shared a tender kiss.
Tonks couldn't stop herself from deepening the kiss and letting his hands go so that she could roam hers across his back and backside, pulling him even closer. She knew it was a tad unprofessional to do this in her classroom, but she never seemed to be able to control herself around him.
It wasn't as if he was innocent either. His hands roamed her sides and back before one hand grasped her hair in a slightly rough grasp - she wasn't complaining at all. She was actually fighting back a moan or two as the hand not tangled in her hair gripped her hip to keep her close so he could grind his own hips against her. She shuddered as she felt him against her through his trousers.
A large part of her was hoping he'd clear off her desk so they could carry this further but instead he pulled away, albeit reluctantly. "As much as I want to take you to my bed and ravish you..." He spoke with subdued lust as he now played with a lock of her hair. "McGonagall asked for us to meet in her classroom in..." He glanced at the conjured clock and grimaced. "Two minutes ago."
The more he spoke, the more pronounced her pout became. "Why not start with that information? You have me all hot and bothered and now I have to sit in with McGonagall? Not fair, Lupin."
Her use of his surname made him laugh, "Well forgive me. I promise to make it up to you later tonight."
"You better." She growled and pulled herself away from him. "Why does she want to see us anyway?"
He reached for her hand and waited for her to finish casting the spells that would seal her room for the night. "She said we have a new and interesting recruit."
"Interesting? I wonder who." She murmured as they stepped out of the room together. "It must be a student, yeah? I don't think the other professors that aren't members would join up."
Remus shrugged as they turned a corner. Before he could speak, he and Tonks watched as Draco and Hermione crept out of the Room of Requirement while grasping each other's hands. The young couple didn't see their elders as they turned the other corner and made their way to McGonagall's classroom.
"I suddenly got an idea of who it is." Remus spoke while Tonks' shock wore off.
Her cousin?
All these months, she'd tried to get her young cousin to talk to her, to open up and explain what she had heard that night. She failed every time. They were growing soft for the other, though. She was genuinely concerned for him now, rather than just Hermione, and he stopped telling her to mind her own business. Instead, he'd tell her not to worry too much, that he had someone helping him.
Maybe this is what he'd meant all along.
She nodded slowly and started walking down the corridor, "Let's go."
The two professors had no idea three of their students also watched the young couple leave their sanctuary and were planning something horrible.
"Dumbledore?! Why?!" Hermione asked in a panic. "Draco! Please tell me you have a plan!"
Draco sighed and took a deep breath before he began to explain. "Severus is technically a backup plan. He and my mother took a vow, he's supposed to help me. My mother wouldn't allow me to become a murderer."
Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and rubber her temples, trying to understand and calm down. "Okay, then why say that you have to kill him?"
"Because, Hermione, I do." Draco felt his stomach churn as he carried on, he was terrified that she was about to leave and never speak to him. And he was so ashamed of what he'd yet to do... "Voldemort wants me to kill him. If I fail, if I don't have the stomach to do it, then Severus steps in and finishes my task for me. But it will be at a cost."
"What kind of cost?"
And here comes the hard part. "Voldemort is evil, of course. But he's so cruel, more so than even I imagined. He doesn't kill you if you fail him, he kills the person you love the most. I've seen it happen; to Pansy's parents."
Hermione gasped at the realization. If you looked at her newfound friend, you never would have guessed. "He killed her parents?"
"Her mother. All because her father hesitated in killing children and people too senile to know what year it was. Voldemort tortured her to death in front of all of us, in front of him and Pansy. It got him in line and the rest of us scared as all hell." Draco involuntarily shuddered at the memory.
"That's so horrible. Poor Pansy." Hermione frowned, and suddenly she realized that she and the Slytherin witch had something else in common. Though the loss was quite different, the pain was still the same.
Draco nodded in agreement, "She was a right mess after. The one thing that brought her out of her depression was me, Blaise, and Theo teaching her how to fight hand to hand. It helped her release all her emotions. Being punched by a screaming girl isn't fun, let me tell you."
Hermione grinned at his attempt to joke. "So who would he kill...if you failed him and Severus had to do it?"
"My mother."
Her brow quirked in confusion. "Narcissa?" She felt slighted by the fact that it wasn't her, but that was foolish. She was upset that she wasn't about to be killed by the wizarding world's darkest wizard? Foolish!
"Yes. He...He got it wrong before. I've tried and failed to kill Dumbledore twice already." He said in a rush and waited for her reaction. He just knew she'd be outraged.
"Twice?! You've-twice, Draco?!" She sputtered. "When?! How?!" As if she was shocked by electricity, she jumped up and began pacing. "Explain. Now."
She did not disappoint. He could feel her emotional magic flowing around her every time she paced near him.
"Okay..." He watched her pace in front of him for five seconds before he rubbed his sweaty palms on his trousers and began. "Remember how Katie Bell got hurt in Hogsmeade? With the cursed necklace? And when Professor Slughorn got poisoned and the Boy Wonder and Weasel saved him? Both were my fault. Katie was supposed to take the necklace to him, I used the Imperius by the way, and Slughorn was supposed to gift it to Dumbledore."
Hermione felt faint at the onslaught of information but nodded along. "You were lucky neither of them died. I watched when Katie got hurt. It was awful."
"I know. I saw it too. I actually threw up in an alley after she was carried away." He confessed then carried on. "So, after I failed those two times, he got angry and wanted to put me back in line."
She wanted to comfort him but something akin to adrenaline was making her pace even faster as she listened intently.
"That day we...connected in the toilets." He began uncomfortably. "Do you remember noticing a letter I was reading?"
"The letter from your mother." She nodded.
Draco frowned and shook his head. "I lied. The letter I was reading was from him. He miscalculated and thought I loved Astoria Greengrass the most because we were betrothed since childhood."
"Wait." She paused, her expression thoughtful. "I remember reading about it. All that was said was that she had died at home. You guys mentioned her, but never gave details."
"He tortured her. She was...unrecognizable. He told her parents to bring her home and they did. I don't know if they knew what was to come and were doing it in case he went after Daphne, too, or if he lied to them. But once she got home, he and my aunt Bellatrix tortured her. They...used every hex and curse, according to his letter, and my aunt carved my name into her skin over and over." He visibly shuddered and couldn't help the tremor in his voice. He squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head as he continued. "They sent pictures to torture me and Daphne even further. He told Daphne it was all my fault and that's why any time you see us together, she's glaring daggers at me."
"And Theo drags her away." Hermione murmured, suddenly understanding and fighting back tears. "I can't believe that bastard. Draco, you should've told me. You should've told me everything." She went to him and knelt in front of him, sniffling and reaching for his hands. "I could've helped you, or been there for you."
"When was I supposed to tell you?" He asked and opened his eyes to stare into hers, feeling very much exposed and not minding one bit. He was still terrified she'd leave, but here she was holding onto him and crying because of what had happened. "It all happened that day and after...I didn't want to ruin us."
Hermione couldn't help but smile and then she shook her head. "It wouldn't have. Nothing is going to ruin us, Draco. I'm not going anywhere, I promise, so stop looking at me all frightened. We'll get through this." She smiled and reached up to give him a kiss that he gratefully returned.
It'd been four months since they shared their first kiss and it still felt as magical as ever. Draco felt chills go through him and a feeling of pure happiness while Hermione felt butterflies erupt from her belly and into her chest. When they were kissing, they felt happy and content.
"I don't deserve you." He murmured as he pulled away and bowed his head to rest his forehead against hers. "I truly don''t."
She sighed and shook her head, "That's not true." She chided lightly then pulled herself up to stand. "Now...Obviously Snape has a plan. Does Dumbledore know?"
He shrugged and shook his head, never having thought of it. Could his godfather have told the man they were meant to kill that he was a target? In an effort to help him, Severus had confided in him months ago that he was part of the Order but not as a spy for the Dark as everyone thought, he was truly on the Light's side, so did that mean that he would tell his leader and find a way to save him? Maybe put the old man in hiding somewhere?
"Well we'll find out soon enough. Snape said you were telling the Order everything, that includes Dumbledore." She shrugged and glanced at her watch before sitting beside him. "We have a bit of time before we can go. Now it's my turn."
Draco stared at her and reached over to grasp her hand. He noted her nervously biting her lower lip and frowned. "It can't be as bad as me telling you I was ordered to kill our Headmaster."
"It's not. It's just a secret I've kept for a very long time." She mumbled. "And I've only told one person before."
"Weasley?"
She shook her head immediately. "No. Harry. I told him right before I tossed Ron into the table. It was the reason Ron got so upset actually. Well, partly. Sort of. I mean, he didn't know the secret but it got him mad becaus-"
"How about you just tell me?" He interrupted her softly, smiling fondly as she started to go into her ramblings.
Hermione stopped and nodded quickly. "Okay." He watched as a look of determination replaced her nervousness and she sighed. "Do you remember earlier how you said that Snape should hide me? And then you said to get my parents and hide them too?"
Immediately, he nodded and explained why he said so. "I know you don't want to hide but it'd be safer. And it would be best to hide them too, because they'd use them to lure you out."
"I know why you suggested it and I'm so appreciative. I'm grateful you care about me that much."She smiled gratefully and squeezed his hand gently.
Draco couldn't help but smile and look down at their joined hands.
"But...My parents are...gone, Draco." Hermione confessed softly, staring at their hands too. "It's a secret I've kept for a while now. Since I got back home from the attack at the Department of Mysteries."
Draco's heart immediately dropped as he thought over her words.
Gone? They were gone? Dead?
And suddenly it made sense why she always got emotional when speaking of her parents and the things they used to do when she was young. He always noticed how tears would flood her eyes and she'd bite her lower lip to stop its quivering then look away whenever she'd randomly mention them. They were the only memories she'd have...
"Hermione, I'm so sorry." He sighed and pulled her into his side, releasing her hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "Why did you never say anything? How did they die?"
Hermione shook her head but leaned into him anyway, relishing in the comfort his warmth brought. "No, they're not dead. They're gone. I Obliviated them. The parents I had are gone."
His eyes widened in surprise at that. "Obliviated? It can't be reversed?"
Her shrug worried him a bit, she leaned back and forced him to as well. They were snuggled into the couch and she wrapped her arms around his waist then rested her head on his chest and he rested his free hand on her arm, rubbing soothing circles against her skin. "I read up on different memory spells. Ones as big as the one I did very rarely get reversed. If you erase too much, it's near impossible to get it back. So, I've come to terms with the fact that they're gone."
"I'm so sorry." He spoke softly and placed a kiss on the top of her head. It was a bit shocking that he felt his own heart ache upon hearing the sadness in her voice. But then, he supposed that's what love truly was; feeling what they felt. "Why did you do it in the first place?"
His brow furrowed as she shuddered for reasons unknown. "Hermione?"
"Remember I told you that Dolohov attacked me?" She asked quietly.
The turn in conversation confused him, but he answered anyway. "Yes. I even remember hearing about it after Lucius went to Azkaban." The next words burned his throat as he said them. "He nearly killed you."
With a small nod, she spoke again. "The thing is...It's like he got into my head when he cast the curse. I felt intense pain for a second and I remember blacking out. But then it was like he taunting me in the darkness. I could faintly hear everyone fighting, but then his voice rang everywhere."
Even though it happened months ago, tears still clouded her eyes as she recalled what had happened as she lied on the ground in the Department of Mysteries. She snuggled into Draco's chest even further, reminding herself that that part of her life was over. She was no longer being tormented in what felt like endless torture.
Draco could sense her torment and wrapped his arms just a bit tighter around her. He knew he didn't want to know the answer to the question that was burning his tongue. Nevertheless, he asked. "What was he saying?"
"He called me a mudblood." The chilling emptiness in her voice told him that she was doing what he had perfected over the years; she was shutting her emotions away so as not to feel them. And that troubled him to his core. "He said that once I was dead, and that I would be soon, he would go after my parents for breeding such an abomination. That they would never be safe. That he would always find the Grangers. So I turned them into other people as soon as I got home. Now they're the Wilkins couple living in Australia."
She knew that maybe it wasn't the best decision to tell him exactly where they were. So easily someone on the Dark side could peer into his mind, but she knew he was skilled in Occlumency and trusted that her secret was safe with him.
A feeling of admiration flooded him as he realized just how much bravery the girl he loved possessed. She sacrificed her parents to save them. So easily, she could've had them hidden in a safe house that he knew the Order must have or she could've taken them and gone into hiding with them. But instead, she chose to give them up forever.
All because of the evil people he had spent so much time with recently. No matter how foolish it was, he felt immensely guilty and silently vowed to do whatever it took to give her her parents back.
"I don't know what to say except I'm so sorry you had to do that." He sighed after her words settled in the air.
She sniffled slightly and shook her head. "Don't apologize. It's not on you."
Rather than argue, he left it alone.
"So that's all you needed to confess?" He asked after another beat of silence. When she nodded slightly, he sat up and glanced at his own watch. "Well, our hour is nearly up. We have to go."
Hermione sat up with him and quickly dried her eyes before taking a deep breath. "Draco..."
He froze as he was about to stand and stared at her expectantly. His gray eyes peering into her very soul made her stomach do a million flips as she carried on.
"You're the only other person who knows where they are. It's just me and you. If anything happens to me, please check in on them from time to time." She knew once the words were out in the open, she'd regret it. And she did the moment his eyes darkened and his hands clenched into tight fists.
He ground his teeth for a moment before he controlled himself. Visions of her lying in his arms with blood pooling around them had invaded his mind upon hearing her request. The dream he had had the day he connected with her had plagued him on a weekly basis now, as if it was a vision meant to torment him.
Hearing her ask him to watch over her parents in the event that she died put him on edge and he didn't like it one bit.
"You're not dying; not for a very long time, so don't even think like that. Do you understand? I don't want you to think like that." His voice was controlled but she could hear the anxiety anyway.
Slowly, she nodded her head. She would just bring the subject up later and make him promise. "Fine. Let's go."
As they both stood, automatically they reached for the other's hand before walking towards the door and out of their secret room.
Glancing quickly around the hallways, they sprinted to McGonagall's classroom. They didn't notice the two Slytherins and lone Gryffindor lurking in the shadows nor their professors watching them in shock.
"What did I tell you?" The Gryffindor asked in a rage. "They're a bloody couple!"
The taller Slytherin shook with anger as he watched his former friend holding onto the Mudblood's hand. "I can't believe Draco would do this."
"Well he did." The other Slytherin spat. "And now he's gonna pay for being a blood traitor."
The Gryffindor immediately tutted. "Remember the plan! Malfoy pays later. She pays now."
The two Slytherins shared an evil smirk as they contemplated how and when they'd attack.
